Ford’s South Africa Plant Starts Producing The New Ford Ranger PHEV For The Global Market

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Because the transition to electrical autos accelerates in a number of markets world wide, international locations the place the auto business contributes considerably to their native economies have to speed up their EV manufacturing to safeguard the way forward for their industries. An instance of a rustic the place the auto business is a key pillar of the economic system is South Africa. South Africa hosts a number of automobile manufacturing and meeting crops. Among the automakers producing autos in South Africa embody Mercedes-Benz, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Isuzu, and Volkswagen.

Six years in the past, I authored an article on how South Africa may miss the large alternatives introduced by the EV transition if the nation doesn’t act quick sufficient. That’s as a result of the auto business is a key pillar of South Africa’s economic system, however makes ICE autos in a world shifting fairly swiftly to electrical.

In line with South Africa’s Automotive Enterprise Council reviews:

• The automotive business contributes 5.3% to GDP (3.2% manufacturing and a pair of.1% retail).
• In 2023, the export of autos and automotive parts reached a file quantity of R270.8 billion, equating to 14.7% of South Africa’s complete exports..
• The business accounts for 21.9% of the nation’s manufacturing output.
• Autos and parts are exported to 148 worldwide markets.
• The manufacturing phase of the business presently employs within the order of 116,000 individuals throughout its varied tiers of exercise (from part manufacturing to automobile meeting).
• Mixed with the business’s robust multiplier impact, the business is answerable for roughly 498,000 jobs throughout the South African economic system’s formal sector.

Gross sales of autos produced in South Africa and exported to varied markets world wide in 2024 gave us an indication that the nation actually must speed up plans to fabricate EVs. naamsa says that for the primary time because the COVID-19 affected 2020, automobile exports declined in 2024 to 308,830 models, down by a considerable 22.8% in comparison with the file efficiency of 2023 when the business exported 399,594 models. Quite a few components impacted the plummeting in automobile exports, together with a slowdown in demand within the EU, the home automotive business’s key export area, as a consequence of low financial development, stricter emission guidelines, and competitors from cheaper electrical automobile imports from China within the area, in addition to the timing impact of latest mannequin introductions within the home market by a serious exporting OEMs. This decline means South Africa must act quick.

There may be now some traction on the PHEV aspect of issues. Among the OEMs producing autos in South Africa, together with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, at the moment are making PHEVs in South Africa, and a good variety of these would have been a part of the 308,830 autos exported in 2024. Simply what number of? naamsa says native manufacturing of PHEVs was up 121% in 2024 to 11,406 from 5,168 in 2023. That’s about 4% of the autos exported from South Africa in 2024. This quantity is ready to leap considerably in 2025 because the Ford Motor Firm of Southern Africa has begun full-scale manufacturing of the first-ever Ford Ranger PHEV at its Silverton Manufacturing Plant.

Ford says the Ranger PHEV, solely produced in South Africa for international export, is a key part of Ford’s international sustainability technique. That is supported by the Silverton Plant’s efforts to undertake extra environmentally pleasant and sustainable manufacturing processes.

“The addition of the high-tech new Ranger PHEV to our production portfolio is an important milestone in Ford’s manufacturing history in South Africa,” says Ockert Berry, VP Operations, Ford South Africa. “This makes the Silverton Manufacturing Plant central to Ford’s Ranger sustainability efforts, as we are the global source for both the new plug-in hybrid and the established Ranger line-up exported to over 100 markets.”

Ford’s Silverton Manufacturing Plant has been designated the worldwide manufacturing hub for the Ranger PHEV, a testomony to the power’s vital upgrades and enhanced adaptability. Producing the PHEV alongside the Ranger expands its international attain, with key upgrades and highlights together with:

• Silverton’s capability is now 200,000 autos yearly (720/day), together with roughly 200 Ranger PHEVs throughout varied specs and each left- and right-hand drive.
• Europe is the first export area for the Ranger, together with the PHEV from 2025, constructing on its 10-year reign because the best-selling pickup. Ranger PHEV marks Ford’s first Ranger exports to Australia and New Zealand from Silverton.
• A brand new PHEV Battery Meeting Plant, that includes a 1,376m² meeting line and a pair of,116m² logistics warehouse permits 62,000 annual battery pack manufacturing, integrating superior dealing with, testing, and Ford-first improvements, together with a hybrid conveyor system for improved ergonomics and high quality.
• Pioneering battery pack testing, utilizing vacuum testing with differential noise cancellation, eliminates environmental interference. This facility is among the many first to separate low voltage, vacuum leak, and excessive voltage testing for enhanced manufacturing high quality and security.
• Incremental upgrades throughout the Silverton plant assist the Ranger PHEV, incorporating high-tech manufacturing and automation.
• The adjoining Chassis Plant within the Tshwane Automotive SEZ, the one Ford-owned facility of its form, added sub-assembly traces for PHEV chassis and part integration, whereas boosting manufacturing effectivity.
• Ford South Africa’s 10,320m² Stamping Plant launched new dies for the PHEV charging port, whereas the 44,000m² Physique Store gained a brand new load field ground line to accommodate the battery pack (elevating the load ground by solely 31mm).
• The Trim, Chassis and Last Meeting (TCF) line was modified to combine PHEV parts, together with a brand new battery sub-assembly line. Devoted areas guarantee high-voltage work meets security requirements.

Ford says the brand new Ranger PHEV is launching in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in 2025. The South African-made Ranger PHEV combines a 2.3L EcoBoost engine with a 75kW electrical motor and 11.8kWh battery. It maintains the Ranger’s 3,500kg towing capability and introduces Professional Energy Onboard. Ford can be ramping up measures on the sustainability entrance. Together with the intensive Silverton Manufacturing Plant upgrades to assist the Ranger PHEV international manufacturing, vital adjustments are being carried out all through the power, reinforcing Ford South Africa’s dedication to sustainability.

“We have implemented an extensive range of waste reduction and recycling initiatives, including a new water recycling project in the Paint Shop that conserves around 14,400m³ of water annually, and we have plans to expand recycled water usage across the Plant,” Berry says.

A brand new scrap yard has been constructed that will increase the quantity of cardboard, paper, and plastic waste that’s sorted on website and recycled, in keeping with Ford’s goal of reaching zero waste to landfill throughout its worldwide operations. The Silverton Plant crew continues to analyze different alternate options for its waste to show this right into a sustainable by-product that may profit each the atmosphere and future enterprise alternatives.

All such initiatives are complemented by the Silverton Manufacturing Plant’s pioneering photo voltaic carpark, which makes use of greater than 30,000 photo voltaic panels to generate 13.4MW of electrical energy — adequate to energy the whole plant through the day.

“We are very close to bolstering our solar system with other alternative energy and storage supplies that will take us a big step closer to exclusively using carbon-free electricity for all of our manufacturing operations,” Berry says.

With Ford saying the plant will produce 200 Ranger PHEVs a day, even when we assume the manufacturing on 330 days of the 12 months, that’s 66,000 Ford Ranger PHEVs. Meaning manufacturing of PHEVs in South Africa will leap from 11,406 models in 2024 to not less than 100,000 models hopefully, if we assume a ramp up of manufacturing of the brand new BMW X3 PHEV in Pretoria and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class PHEV in East London. This will likely be good for the South African auto sector. If we follow this assumption, it is going to imply the manufacturing of PHEVs in South Africa may leap from a 4% share to a 32% share. Hopefully we’ll see firms assembling and manufacturing BEVs in South Africa as nicely.

Photos courtesy of Ford South Africa